Will’s homosexuality, one of the Netflix series’ main characters, becomes a powerful narrative arc in the final season of Stranger Things, delivering an unexpected message about the power of self-acceptance. Spoiler alert.
Noah Schapp did not lie when he stated, in November in an interview for the British GQ, that the sexual orientation of his character, Will, would be a “a key element of the final season” of Stranger Things. Premiered on Netflix in 2016, the Duffer brothers’ series is set to bow out on December 31 with the last episode of its fifth season. For now, the streaming platform has released the first half of this final season, where Hawkins’ teens are seen devising a plan to annihilate Vecna, the series’ principal and monstrous antagonist. And if, until now, one had bet on the prodigy Eleven to defeat the enemy, that would be counting on Will…
The shame of being oneself, Achilles’ heel
Let’s rewind. In season 4, fans of Stranger Things learned of Vecna and his macabre designs for humanity: to fuse the real world with the “Upside Down” from which the Demogorgons and other monstrosities come. To do this, he must gain power by drawing on the psychic energy of human beings, particularly children whom he deems more psychologically fragile and thus more susceptible to manipulation.
Thus Will Byers was the first child abducted by Vecna, the boy’s strange disappearance forming the starting point of the season 1 plot. “You broke so easily”, Vecna tells him in the fourth episode of season 5, portraying Will as a weaker being than others. In reality, the child was not weak but weakened – an important nuance – by the harassment he endured. Indeed, even as he had not yet become aware of his sexual orientation, the young boy was teased and mistreated by his classmates who suspected him of being gay.
This inner turmoil, though disguised as shyness, did not escape Robin, the lesbian character played by Maya Hawke. At the start of episode 4, she notes that Will seems to have a crush on his best friend, Mike (played by Finn Wolfhard). During a private moment, Robin confides in him, recounting her first love for Tammy, a straight friend. A non-reciprocal attraction that had damaged her mental health until she understood: “Tammy was never the problem. I was looking for answers in someone else when they were inside me all along. I just had to stop being so scared. Scared of who I really was. And once I did that, I felt so free. It’s almost like I could fly!” A tirade that translates the importance of the “coming in,” this intimate process of accepting oneself and one’s queer identity. This conversation is decisive for Will: by stopping to endure his sexuality, he will move from victim to hero.
Acceptance will save the world
Thus, when all his friends are violently attacked by Demogorgons, Will recalls his friend’s inspiring speech. He revisits the memories tied to his difference and his attraction to Mike – something the series shows us through a heartbreaking montage. It is then that, suddenly, at the heart of the battle, the adolescent rises, eyes rolled back, hand extended, summoning unforeseen telekinetic powers that prevent the monsters from disemboweling his friends. By his simple psychic strength, he saves not only his loved ones but also, in a sense, humanity.
For this mid-season climax, one did not expect Stranger Things to take on such a strong queer stance. “Being gay is a superpower”, hails the British magazine Out. In fact, it is not being homosexual per se but the acceptance of this difference that finally frees Will after he, like many of us, had tried to reject this part of his identity. The strength of the young man comes from this reclaimed pride that finally makes him lift his head and stand up as who he is. The symbolism of this narrative arc is galvanizing. One could even give the message a broader reach: would society be as screwed as Will’s crew without queers? Whatever the case, acceptance will save the world.
